The Mexican Border War Zone

Under repeated attack by the violent gunfire of Mexicans trying to reach the U.S., a Texas county across the Rio Grande could certainly use some of the 6,000 National Guard troops President George W. Bush recently deployed to the southern border.

This week U.S. Border Patrol agents and sheriff deputies were viciously assaulted with hundreds of rounds of gunfire in a border section of Hidalgo County-between Laredo and Brownsville-for the third time in seven months.

The incident, which occurred at night, marks the 76 report of violence against Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley since the start of the fiscal year in October, nearly double the amount of incidents during the same period last year. Besides the three large-scale attacks, there have been shootings, physical assaults, vehicle assaults and rock throwing.

The violence in this portion of the U.S.-Mexican border is so out of control that Hidalgo County’s Sheriff said: “This type of incident is a very good example of why I will not allow my deputies to patrol the river banks or the levees anywhere close to the river. We do have drug trafficking gangs, human trafficking gangs that will not hesitate to fire at us.”

This week’s deadly assault originated on the Mexican side of the border, across the Rio Grande, and authorities say that 300 shots were fired from automatic weapons. Not surprisingly, U.S. authorities were ignored when they tried to reach their Mexican counterpart to report the military-style attack.

Free Constitution says it was probably drug-related and finds it hard to believe that only 10 states have committed to sending National Guard troops to the border. One thing is for sure, they better send some troops to the Rio Grande Valley.